Two Fires, Three Denials, Three Affirmations, A Man Made New

This Easter we considered what Jesus' resurrection reveals to us about God's relationship to us in the midst of the failure and chaos of our brokenness and failures. Resurrection is surely a victory. Jesus' resurrection is a victory of God's light over darkness, whether we are talking about the cosmic scope of the resurrection, or it's meaning to each of us as individual disciples of Jesus. Cosmically, Jesus' resurrection from the dead is the first-fruit of the harvest of what will be God's redemption of this entire world; individually, the resurrection is a promise that our whole selves, including our bodies, matter to God. Our share in Jesus' resurrection means that sin and death will not have the last word in our personal lives; we are bound for glory. The resurrection is surely about victory but we need to think carefully about what sort of victory.

Mike Lloyd, one of the theologians in residence of Saint Paul's Theological Centre in London, has made some valuable suggestions as to how we ought to think about what sort of victory is the resurrection. The following is my paraphrase of Lloyd: the resurrection is not an attempt to cover up the crass mistake of the cross. God owns the cross of Christ and it is where he deals most powerfully with the evil and sin in world, defeating them in Christ's sacrifice. On the cross God entered the world of chaos, evil, failure, and defeat and claims the entire arena to be a place where he is at work. It is in Jesus' moment of being forsaken by the father that God's love is most powerfully at work. And finally, it was when the hopes of the disciples were dashed that their salvation was being accomplished. Lloyd goes on to point out that when we experience failure and chaos in our lives that we often imagine that we have come to a place where hope is irretrievable. Quite the opposite though. In the cross, God has entered into the chaos so that it is not an alien place for him. So, whatever the case may be for us (e.g. whatever terrible thing befalls us because of evil at work in the world, whatever calamity we have brought on ourselves through the selfishness of sin), God is not alien to us in these circumstances. His presence with us is for the purpose of reconciling us to himself and doing something new in our lives. A poignant example of God at work in this way is found in Jesus' visit with Peter as told to us in John's Gospel, 21:1-19.

John sets the scene for us in such a way that it makes it as if, in the words of Rowan Williams, Jesus had never been. The disciples are back to fishing, their vocation before they were called by Jesus and taught to fish for people. And then there is the matter of the charcoal fire, a detail it seems that John does not want us to miss. Just a little bit before in John's Gospel, Peter is warming his hands by a charcoal fire when he denies Jesus three times; here the risen Jesus cooks breakfast for Peter over a charcoal fire. Equally important, if not more important, than the words exchanged at this breakfast setting is the scene itself. In the scene of Peter's betrayal there is an angst-ridden shell of a man nervously warming his hands by a charcoal fire, denying Jesus three times. In the scene we considered this Easter we have the one who was betrayed returning himself to Peter to be loved by him. This is the Easter Gospel, Jesus gives us back our lives, complete with the memories of our mistakes and failures; but! in his presence we can be made new! Peter, and the others, who had gone back to fishing are forgiven and remade into the fishers of people they were intended to be. And in the presence of the risen Lord, Simon, son of John, who first met Jesus as a fisherman is once again, Petros, the rock, among those who God will use to shepherd the sheep and lead the new community, the church of Jesus Christ, that arises through the power of Jesus' resurrection.

Questions for discussion:

1. The cross looked like quite a miserable failure but God was at work to bring victory out of it. Do you think your posture in moments of failure makes you more or less likely to find and see God at work? What can make it especially hard for you to see God in the midst of your failure. What can make it especially hard for you to help others see God at work in the midst of their failures?

2. God is present and working in dark situations (e.g. situations where we do not immediately perceive him to be at work - like on the cross). Does this insight challenge the way you think about how you evaluate the lives of others, especially those who are walking through dark times? Does it make you think carefully about what you say or don't say to someone who is in a dark time? I'll give you an example: I grew up in a religious context where people who were divorced were considered to be people who were in darkness. No spiritual leader in that world would ever expect to find God at work in the midst of those difficult situations. Of course, now I know that God is not absent in those situations. He is present, wanting reconciliation when possible but always desirous of doing something new for each person effected by the divorce.

3. Jesus chooses to coax Peter's confession of love for him in a way that makes him feel uncomfortable - John tells us that his feelings are hurt. What do you think Jesus is doing here? I bring this up because I have heard some Christians talk about this as if Jesus is almost shaming Peter by making him confess his love three times in a row. I don't think this is about shaming Peter, do you? What is Jesus up to?